Miss-Delectable
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Helping The Deaf Survive Disasters
When a catastrophe strikes, such as Hurricane Katrina, the most vulnerable people are the disabled. That was tragically made clear when some elderly nursing home patients died after the big storm hit the Gulf Coast last year. Now, there's a national effort to educate both the disabled and first responders on how to deal with a disaster.
At the Vermont Health Dept., this was a day-long series of classroom discussions about life and death situations: surviving a disaster that might range from a fire to a terrorist attack. The instructor is the fire chief in the city of Faribault, Minnesota. He spoke through an interpreter who knows sign language because the people he's teaching are deaf.
Mike Monge works for the Community Emergency Preparedness Information Network (CEPIN). "You know, when people talk about somebody who's deaf and somebody who's hearing, the only thing that's missing there is communication," Monge told the class.
It all comes down to communication, to make sure that a deaf person understands evacuation instructions or other life-saving information. Monge told Channel the, "One of the problems we have is that during an actual emergency is not the time to instruct people what to do. People that are in the deaf community -- any disability, learning disability, physical disability -- needs to be involved in the planning process."
Already, deaf people are getting involved. They were teaching in another room. Here, the students were first responders -- police, firefighters and medics. They're learning the importance of communication with the deaf.
Keri Darling, herself deaf and working for CEPID, said, "There are some police and responders who are not prepared. But there are some areas in the state where people have been given training, and they are somewhat prepared. But as we could say, this full system is not set up at the moment."
That's why Carrie Foster, also deaf, and Keri Darling are here. This is one of sixteen locations around the country where attending to the needs of the deaf and other disabled are being woven into an extensive national incident management system.
Stephanie Clark, also deaf, said, "Some people have already gone through the training, like Carrie and Keri. And they've taken our training and now are certified to teach the course around Vermont."
That's how the program is getting seeded across the country. It will ensure that the deaf and disabled are heard in the planning and saved if and when a disaster strikes.
When a catastrophe strikes, such as Hurricane Katrina, the most vulnerable people are the disabled. That was tragically made clear when some elderly nursing home patients died after the big storm hit the Gulf Coast last year. Now, there's a national effort to educate both the disabled and first responders on how to deal with a disaster.
At the Vermont Health Dept., this was a day-long series of classroom discussions about life and death situations: surviving a disaster that might range from a fire to a terrorist attack. The instructor is the fire chief in the city of Faribault, Minnesota. He spoke through an interpreter who knows sign language because the people he's teaching are deaf.
Mike Monge works for the Community Emergency Preparedness Information Network (CEPIN). "You know, when people talk about somebody who's deaf and somebody who's hearing, the only thing that's missing there is communication," Monge told the class.
It all comes down to communication, to make sure that a deaf person understands evacuation instructions or other life-saving information. Monge told Channel the, "One of the problems we have is that during an actual emergency is not the time to instruct people what to do. People that are in the deaf community -- any disability, learning disability, physical disability -- needs to be involved in the planning process."
Already, deaf people are getting involved. They were teaching in another room. Here, the students were first responders -- police, firefighters and medics. They're learning the importance of communication with the deaf.
Keri Darling, herself deaf and working for CEPID, said, "There are some police and responders who are not prepared. But there are some areas in the state where people have been given training, and they are somewhat prepared. But as we could say, this full system is not set up at the moment."
That's why Carrie Foster, also deaf, and Keri Darling are here. This is one of sixteen locations around the country where attending to the needs of the deaf and other disabled are being woven into an extensive national incident management system.
Stephanie Clark, also deaf, said, "Some people have already gone through the training, like Carrie and Keri. And they've taken our training and now are certified to teach the course around Vermont."
That's how the program is getting seeded across the country. It will ensure that the deaf and disabled are heard in the planning and saved if and when a disaster strikes.